The value attached to this
little work may be estimated in some degree by its having already reached a
Tenth Edition.
The testimony borne to its
worth and utility to actual and intending settlers, by persons so well
entitled to give an opinion of its merits as William Hutton, Esq., Secretary
to the Board of Agriculture and Statistics; Frederic Widder, Esq., Resident
Commissioner of the Canada Company, and A. C. Buchanan, and A. B. Hawke,
Esqrs., the Government Emigration-Agents at Quebec and Toronto, has
doubtless given it an importance which it otherwise might not have attained.
The .matter in the first
portion of the book is written by Mrs. Traill, after a residence of
twenty-five years in the Colony, a considerable portion of which has been in
those "Backwoods of Canada," so vivid and interesting a description of which
she gave to the public through the medium of Knight’s Shilling Volumes.
The second part consists of
official documents.
The third part consists of
a republication of several letters, written from one friend in Canada to
another in England, and are reprinted by request, but do not form any
portion of the work which claims to be official, though it is believed to
give correct information.
Much valuable official
information will be found in the Appendix.
The growing interest felt
in Canadian matters at home, and the prospect of an extensive Emigration to
this Province in the approaching year, have caused a large demand for the
work from Great Britain and other parts of Europe; and with a view therefore
to make it more useful and acceptable, a very large and valuable addition
has been made to it, selected from the works and " endorsed " by the
opinions of some of the most eminent authorities in Canada.
These various documents
comprise an amount of information, the result of actual experience, and
bearing the stamp of official authority, upon which the utmost reliance may
be placed; and they are published with a view to the instruction and
guidance of Settlers of all classes who may contemplate a residence in this
thriving Colony, whose onward progress exoeeds that of any other dependency
of the British Crown.
The population of Canada is
now estimated at nearly three millions, being an increase since 1851-2 of
above thirty-three per cent.
The information given
hereinafter is intended chiefly for the guidance of those who intend to
settle upon land, the class most likely to succeed just now, if possessed of
some little capital. A demand for labourers and mechanics would soon follow.
The Publisher has carefully
abstained from giving any account of the Province more favourable than the
one borne out by official returns as to fertility and climate.
London, October, 1860.
